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Ōura, maker of health-tracking smart rings popular with celebrities and business executives, has raised $200mn in new funding, doubling its valuation to $5.2bn by 2022.
Founded in Finland in 2013, Ōura's latest deal is the largest for a private European tech company outside the artificial intelligence sector, which has absorbed a disproportionate share of venture capital funding this year.
Fidelity Management led Ura's latest round along with US-based glucose-monitoring group Dexcom, bringing its total capitalization to more than $550 million, according to the company.
celebrity Aficionados of the ring of Ōura Included are Prince Harry, Gwyneth Paltrow and Jennifer Aniston, IBM and Delta executives, as well as Silicon Valley founders such as Twitter's Jack Dorsey, Salesforce's Marc Benioff and Airbnb's Joe Gebbia.
Its growing popularity has seen sales more than double to around $500mn this year, with total rings sold surpassing 2.5mn. Ura chief executive Tom Hale has said the company is profitable.
Ura said the fund will allow it to expand its products into new categories, invest in AI and fuel international expansion as well as potential acquisitions.
“We know Ōura has the potential to transform lives in a big way, and we're excited to continue to lead the market in innovation while pursuing opportunities beyond the ring,” said Hale.
Ōura started on Kickstarter, a crowdfunding site, in 2016.
Its rings, which cost more than $349 for the latest Ōura 4 model plus a $5.99-a-month subscription, track the wearer's sleep, heart rate, body temperature and activity. A smartphone app converts this data into a personalized "readiness score" and offers advice on how to improve it.
The Wearable technology And the fitness tracker market has long been dominated by smartwatches like the Apple Watch. However, according to market research group IDC's estimates, unit shipments of smartwatches are expected to decline by 3 percent this year, while unit shipments of rings are expected to grow by 88 percent, making them the fastest growing segment alongside smartwatches. A growing variety of wearable devices are being created. Glasses like Meta's camera-toting Ray-Bans.
Big tech companies are starting to take notice of Ōura's success, with Samsung launching its Galaxy Ring in July. IDC forecast Shipments of smart rings will increase from 1.7 million this year to 3.1 million in 2028.
Health tech has been a bright spot for European start-ups this year, attracting $7.9 billion in venture capital in the first three quarters of 2024, according to Dealroom.